Duncan Grehan and Partners are regularly contacted by lawyers and insurers representing companies located abroad, often in Switzerland, Germany, Austria or the UK, who have manufactured a product which is alleged to have caused injury in litigation before the Irish Courts. The Defendant will seek to pass on some or all of the liability risk to the manufacturer. The Defendant will apply to the High Court for an Order granting liberty to issue and serve Third-Party proceedings on the manufacturer. The Defendant will allege that the manufacturer is liable to the Plaintiff for whatever loss or cost is claimed to have been suffered as a result of a defect in the product which has caused the injury. The Defendant will maintain that the Third Party should indemnify the Defendant for any loss and cost which it suffers as a result of the Plaintiff's complaint against it and in having to defend the Court proceedings.

We assist the Third Party manufacturers (their lawyers and insurers) by advising them on the immediate issues of whether the Irish Courts have jurisdiction to deal with and determine the issue as between the Defendant and the manufacturer. We also immediately consider the relevance of any delay in bringing an application to the Irish Court for an Order to join the manufacturer as a Third Party. We examine whether the Third-Party proceedings have been duly served on the manufacturer. Should the Third-Party proceedings be defective in relation to any of these points, we will then seek by way of Notice of Motion to have the Third-Party proceedings struck out. Should there be no such defect or should such application be unsuccessful we will then advise the client on how best to defend its position against the Third-Party claim having regard to procedural law and the merits of the defence.

We have considerable practical experience in all issues arising from such proceedings.

For further information contact Duncan Grehan at dgrehan@duncangrehan.com